The Son of Kronos
by The Overpowered Author
Summary: The eldest son of Kronos and Rhea, the God of Time, Elements, Battle, Creation, Storms, Earth, Destruction, and Darkness, has risen from his desolation in the Pit. He witnessed what his younger siblings did to his father and swore revenge. Perseus, now Percy Jackson, a simple demigod, has put his plan into motion so his father can finally get back what is rightfully his. Evil!Percy
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians along with Heroes of Olympus do not belong to me.**_

**Summary: **Perseus, eldest son of Kronos, God of Time, Elements, Battle, Creation, Storms, Earth, Destruction, and Darkness was loved by his father. He was kept a secret from his siblings and his father trained him in his powers and as his heir. Upon seeing his father chopped to bits and pieces by his siblings, he vowed revenge. He traveled to Tartarus, using the monsters to master his powers and abilities. While there, he forged his Symbol of Power using his favorite Grand-Uncle's personal forge. He moved on and conquered the arena, where he lie in wait for his father to rise once more. 3000 years after his defeat, his father is on the rise and Perseus will stop at nothing to aid him.

_**NOTE:**_ Perseus will be cruel and vindictive in this story. Seeing as he was raised by Kronos, I find it believable. Character _**will **_be OOC. This is **AU**. You've been warned.

**The Son of Kronos**

**Chapter One**

Perseus slashed and stabbed, he parried and blocked, he dodged and he poked, and for once, he was winning. Pallas, the Titan of War, had been training the God of Time, Elements, Battle, Creation, Storms, Earth (which he inherited from his grandmother, Gaia), Destruction, and Darkness for as long as the god could remember. His uncle and he had grown very close to each other during their sparring sessions, and he had grown to love the Titan dearly, almost like a second father.

"Come on, boy! You can do better than that!" the Titan taunted.

Perseus, with his golden eyes and windswept, black hair, smirked and charged his uncle, just as he was a yard away, he did a front flip over the man and hit him on the back of the head with his hilt, making him lose consciousness.

"And the winner is Perseus!" Kronos announced to the rest of the Titanic Council, who all cheered.

Perseus did a dramatic bow and then conjured up a bucket of water using his abilities in Creation, he then dumped it on the Titan to wake the older immortal up.

"Ugh," the Titan of War whined, "did you _have_ to use water?"

"Yup!" Perseus chirped cheerfully.

The Titan smiled at the cheerfulness of his nephew. "If you say s―"

He was cut off by a sudden explosion down lower on the mountain.

"Perseus! Leave, now!" His father, Kronos, shouted.

"But I can help fight! My younger siblings are no match for me!" Perseus argued.

"You will do as I say, boy!" Kronos responded.

Perseus sighed, knowing it was no use to argue with his father. He pulled the shadows to him and disappeared. Unknown to all, Perseus was simply hiding in the shadows.

All of a sudden, his six siblings approached his father, who was sitting calmly on his throne.

"Father," the youngest, Zeus, spat with so much hatred it would have made even the most battle-hardened warriors flinch.

"Zeus," Kronos said neutrally, having not cared about Zeus' hatred towards him.

"You have ruled too long, it is now time for the era of the gods!" Zeus spoke cockily.

"Very well, boy." Kronos rose off his throne to his full glory and changed into his divine form. The gods did the same and the fight began.

In the beginning, the fight was evenly matched, but the gods were slowly gaining ground against their father. Kronos would slow down time for his six youngest children and attack viciously, only for one of them to break free and block the attack, distracting the Titan, thus freeing the other siblings.

Kronos knew he was going to lose, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try to win. He remembered that day so long ago when his father had given him the prophecy that he would be dethroned by his own children just as he had done to his own father, Ouranos, before chopping him up and throwing the remains into Tartarus. The very last thing his father had said to him, though was, "I will tell you this,_ son_," Ouranos had spat before continuing, "Perseus is your only child who will be forever loyal to you. Despite my best efforts to get him to hate you, he is fanatically loyal to you." Perseus had just been born ten years previous, so he was still very young, but Kronos could tell that his father was right, Perseus truly was fanatically loyal to his father. When he was only nine, he used his powers to rip apart a demi-titan who was attempting to assassinate Kronos, not that the demi-Titan would have succeeded. So, following his father's declaration, Kronos trained his young son. At first, he was simply eager to have somebody so powerful that would never question his commands. But eventually, he came to love Perseus as any father would his child. When Hestia was born, he was reluctant to eat her. During the days after her birth, he often wondered if his father had lied and if she would be as loyal to him as Perseus was. After about a week, though, Perseus convinced his father to start eating his children, as he did not want anyone to overthrow the Titan King. As he continued to eat his children, he and Pallas continued Perseus' training, until eventually, Perseus could defeat any of the Titans save his father in a battle of arms.

These thoughts were rushing through the Titans head as he viciously swiped his scythe at Poseidon, just barely missing the God of the Sea's head. The battle raged on and both parties began to tire. Finally, though, Zeus got in a lucky swing and cut deep into Kronos' wrist, making the Titan clutch his wrist in pain. Hades then kicked him in the back and he finally lay on the ground in defeat.

Zeus took up his father's weapon and proceeded to chop him to bits and pieces, much to Perseus' horror. When Zeus finished, he spoke, "This is the dawn of a new age. A godly age. It is time for us gods to rule this planet. Hades, take the remains of Kronos and toss them into Tartarus. We must be sure he never returns." Hades nodded at his younger brother and gathered his father's remains before teleporting to the Underworld.

The rest left all together to return to Olympus and announce the good news. Meanwhile, in the shadows, Perseus swore revenge for what his siblings had done to their father. His father. The one who always cared for and loved him.

**(Line Break)**

**100 years later, 2900 years until Kronos' Rise**

Perseus traveled to Tartarus soon after, intent on continuing his training and enhancing his skills so he could defeat his siblings. He could probably defeat one or two at the moment, but not all of them together as his father almost had. So he used his powers on any monster he could find, slaughtering them in vicious ways. Inhuman ways. Normally it would be against the Ancient Laws for an immortal to kill monsters, but Perseus was special. Due to his domain of Creation, he was able to create a loophole for himself, so he was not bound to the Ancient Laws. The Fates had originally been pissed at him, but soon got over it, realizing the fact that they were the ones who gave him his domains.

So he trained. And trained. And trained. Until eventually, the monsters simply called Perseus "Him" out of complete and utter terror. They were so scared of saying his name because they believed that he would show up out of nowhere and slaughter them in horrific ways wherever they stood. Tartarus, the Primordial God of the Pit, eventually heard reference of "Him" and decided to nip the problem in the bud. He soon discovered, though, that the "Him" everybody was talking about was none other than his favorite Grand-Nephew.

"Perseus?" he said, shocked. "What are you doing down here?"

Perseus turned to see Tartarus and smiled. "I'm training so I can aid my father whenever he rises again against my _siblings_," he spat the word in disgust.

Tartarus nodded in understanding. "Well, I do believe I can help you train if you would like."

Perseus grinned, "I would love that, Uncle."

And so his training began… again.

**(Line Break)**

**200 years later, 2700 years until Kronos' Rise**

Soon, Perseus completed his training with his Grand-Uncle, and as a reward, Tartarus told Perseus that he was allowed to forge a Symbol of Power in Tartarus' personal forge and use any material he found in Tartarus. Weapons forged in Tartarus' personal forge were always ten times stronger than normally forged weapons. Perseus accepted the reward with gratitude and got to work. He found a metal known as Adamantine, which Tartarus' told him his father had a small amount imbued in his own Symbol of Power, deep in the Pit. As he was about to begin, Tartarus gifted him with a small amount of Void Metal, which was only found in the Void and could force an immortal to fade. Perseus, once again, accepted it with gratitude. That was when he began to forge his weapon.

**(Line Break)**

**500 years later, 2200 years until Kronos' Rise**

Upon completing his Symbol of Power, which was a blood red blade named 'Μανία της κόλασης' or 'Hell's Fury', Perseus tempered it in the focal point of the Five Rivers of the Underworld, granting the blade characteristics from each river, something his Uncle told him he had never thought of doing. He then set out to do favors for the immortals in Tartarus in order to achieve their blessing on the blade. When he was finished, he had done favors for his Grand-Uncle Tartarus, his Grand-Uncle Chronos, his Grand-Uncle Erebus, his Grand-Aunt Nyx, and his Grandmother Gaia. In exchange for each of his favors, they imbued a portion of their power into his sword, granting it some control over their domains.

His favor to Tartarus was to destroy a monster deep in the Pit who was causing trouble. A monster so old, it had long been forgotten by many. This monster was none other than the first dragon, Draco. The fight was glorious, long, and very bloody. Perseus had to assume his divine form in order to even stand a chance against the dragon. He was constantly forced to dodge away from the dragon's white hot fire breath, and was forced to evade the ever-sharp claws of the monstrous dragon, but in the end, he prevailed.

His favor to Chronos was to train under the Primordial and learn everything that the domain of Time entitled. Personally, Perseus didn't see how this was a favor to Chronos. Instead, it seemed more like a favor _from _Chronos because he learned things about the domain of Time that he had never known. He learned everything Chronos knew about the domain. This alone took up much of the past 500 years.

His favor to Erebus was to kill one of his children. The demi-Primordial had begun recruiting monsters to aid in overthrowing the Primordial God of Darkness. The Primordial, though, could do nothing to stop his child as he, along with the other Primordials, was restricted by the Ancient Laws.

His favor to Nyx was also to kill Erebus' child. Not because she feared the child would overthrow her husband, but simply because she hated all of Erebus' illegitimate children.

His favor to Gaia was a long standing one, and that was to help his father regain a body when Kronos' essence came together one more.

Upon receiving all the blessings, he was ecstatic. From Tartarus, he could control up to an army of 500 monsters. From Chronos, his power over time was doubled while he wielded the blade. From Erebus, his power over shadows was enhanced while he wielded the blade and wisps of shadows also rolled off of the sword, making it look badass. From Nyx, his power over shadows was enhanced even further while he wielded the blade. And from Gaia, the Earth would heal any wounds he sustained over time (an ability he didn't inherit with his own Earth domain) as long as he was touching the Earth and was holding onto the sword. He could now take on all of his siblings with little threat to his health. And, while he wanted nothing more than to destroy them, he decided to wait for his father to rise once more.

**(Line Break)**

**20 years later, 2180 years until Kronos' Rise**

Perseus soon got bored of waiting and decided to compete in the Arena of Tartarus, something his Grand-Uncle supported whole-heartedly. The fights started out small, a few hellhounds here, a few empousai there, along with a couple of dracaenae somewhere in-between, but he eventually worked his way up to the more powerful monsters, including, but not limited to, the Minotaur, the Manticore, the Chimera, Medusa, the Gorgons, a couple of drakons, Orthrus, Python, Lamia, whom he spared, the Lernaean Hydra, Echidna, the Nemean Lion, a sphinx, and many more. Eventually, he came to fight Perses, his cousin, whom he defeated with ease and conquered the Arena of Tartarus, solidifying his place as one of the most terrifying immortals to live.

**(Line Break)**

**2150 years later, 30 years until Kronos' Rise**

Perseus ended up staying in the Arena of Tartarus for the next 2,150 years, until he finally sensed his father's consciousness stirring and grinned to himself in his office, at which point he disappeared in a shadow to prepare for his father's return.

**(Line Break)**

**25 years later, 5 years until Kronos' Rise**

Twelve year old "demigod", Perseus Jackson, followed his "friend", Daniel Jenkins, follow Mrs. Dodds, into the back room of the museum they were visiting. He knew full well what she really was and what she wanted.

"Where is it?" the Fury, Alecto, rasped.

"Where is what?" Daniel asked confused.

"The bolt. Where is the Master Bolt?" she snarled.

"Where is what Master Bolt?" he, once again, asked confused.

She let out a screech, calling her siblings, Tisiphone and Megaera to her. It was at this point that Perseus decided to intervene. He quickly incapacitated his roommate and stood in front of him. The Furies at first looked confused, but all attacked in unison, nonetheless, while Perseus called his Symbol of Power to him, stopping them where they were. They could feel the power rolling off the blade. They could also sense the power of five different Primordials in the sword, something that worried them immensely.

"Who are you?" Alecto demanded.

Perseus smirked, "I am Perseus, eldest child of Kronos and Rhea, God of Time, Elements, Battle, Creation, Storms, Earth, Destruction, and Darkness."

The Furies slowly back away at the declaration. "T-That's impossible, Hestia is the eldest child of Kronos and Rhea, not you. You lie," Alecto snarled.

Perseus' smirk grew, "That's what you thought. Now, time for you to join your father, Ouranos, in the realm of the faded, as I don't need you to tell my little brother Hades of my existence." Upon finishing his sentence, Perseus let loose an energy blast from the tip of his sword that promptly obliterated the three Furies from existence. The only evidence left behind of them ever being there were their whips, which Perseus quickly put in a pocket dimension he had created for Spoils of War before vanishing his Symbol of Power. Just in time, too, as it was then that his youngest sibling, Chiron, or Mr. Brunner, came charging into the room to help Daniel against the Furies, only to see Perseus standing in the middle of the room, with Daniel lying unconscious a few feet away, feigning confusion. Perseus turned to Chiron before asking, "Err, where did Mrs. Dodds go?"

Chiron was too stunned to reply, so Perseus just shrugged and joined the rest of the class. Leaving Chiron to awaken the unconscious demigod.

**(Line Break)**

**Meanwhile...**

Hades was sitting on his throne in the Underworld when he grabbed his head in pain. He could literally feel his servants being wiped from existence, which worried him immensely. He had told them to go take his Helm of Darkness and Zeus' Master Bolt back from, who he believed to be, the son of Poseidon, but he had no idea what they could have encountered that could completely wipe them out of existence. He wondered if he should tell his siblings about his servants being destroyed, but decided against it. They had never done him any favors, so why should he do them one by telling them of the existence of a being who could destroy three of the most powerful monsters' essences.

**(Line Break)**

**Later that night…**

Perseus woke up to hear the snoring of the satyr watching over him and his other roommate, Daniel Jenkins, whom he knew to be a son of Poseidon. He quickly checked to make sure the satyr and son of Poseidon weren't faking before putting on a cloak and cover his face with the hood. He then flashed away to Mt. Othrys. Upon arriving he smirked at the struggling form of Atlas and revealed himself to the Titan.

"Struggling, Atlas?" he asked.

"You dare taunt me, demigod?!" Atlas spat.

Perseus snorted, "Oh come now, Atlas, you don't recognize your own cousin?" He dramatically pulled down his hood, revealing his face to Atlas, eliciting a gasp.

"Perseus," he snarled, still struggling with the sky.

Perseus nodded and waved his hand, creating six granite pillars to hold up the sky for Atlas. Atlas rolled out from under the sky and groaned, before stretching his muscles. Atlas then growled at Perseus, "How dare you show yourself here, traitor?"

Perseus growled back, "I was under orders from my father to flee during the final battle, so don't you go calling me a traitor, fool."

"Why not show yourself sooner, then?" Atlas asked, now genuinely curious.

"I have been waiting for my father to begin stirring. A little over twenty years ago, while I was overseeing the Arena in the Pit, I felt my father's consciousness begin to awaken. Since then, I have been planning and gathering allies for my father," Perseus responded.

"Ah," Atlas said in understanding.

"Yes, and now, I've come to free you. My father does not yet know of my interference, and I intend to keep it that way for a while, as I fear he may tell one of his spies at the camps, who might then blab about it. My existence is still unknown to _all _of the Gods, and I plan on keeping it that way for as long as possible. I'll probably reveal myself to my father in a year or two, when he is stronger," Perseus added as an afterthought.

"Be that as it may, do you have any clue how annoying it has been to hold the sky for three millennia?" Atlas questioned.

Perseus snorted, "No, and I don't plan to learn."

Atlas allowed the ghost of a smile to show on his face, "It's good to see you again, cousin."

"And you, cousin," the God of Time smiled back. "So, how's the family? Better yet, how's Zoe?"

Atlas growled at Zoe's name, drawing a confused look from Perseus. It was at that point that the Titan of Endurance decided to elaborate. "She betrayed her sisters and me for that pathetic son of Zeus, _Heracles_, at which point I disowned her."

Perseus sighed, he had always liked Zoe. He had met her after the war began and had her swear on the Styx to never reveal his existence to anyone. After that, they had become good friends, and constantly talked once Perseus' training for the day had ended. During that time, he had come to learn of Zoe's hatred for being imprisoned in the Garden of the Hesperides, and wish to explore the world. So it did not truly surprise him that she had betrayed her family. Back when he knew her, she would have done anything to be free from the Garden she so loathed.

"I'm not that surprised," he said, shocking Atlas.

"Why not?" he growled, hating the topic of his disowned daughter.

"She had always longed for freedom from the Garden, back when we were friends. Is she still alive? If so, do you know where she is? I need to talk some sense into her," he added.

"Last I heard," Atlas began, "she is still alive and as serving as Lieutenant for Artemis' Hunt. Apparently, shortly after she betrayed us, she was betrayed by Heracles."

Perseus narrowed his eyes, "Of course she would be there. The monsters in Tartarus who were killed by the Hunt constantly spoke of their hatred for Artemis and her Lieutenant, who seemed to hate men and monsters as much as, if not more than, Artemis herself. And I remember the way Zoe looked at the monsters surrounding the Garden very well. She looked as if she'd like nothing more than to butcher the lot of them."

"If you were in Tartarus, how do you know of Artemis? She was born after the war," Atlas questioned suspiciously.

Perseus rolled his eyes, "Gee, I dunno. Might have something to do with being in the Pit where monsters reform after their deaths. Might also have something to do with monsters being the biggest gossips ever."

"Oh yeah," Atlas looked sheepish.

"Well, anyways, I must return to a mortal thing called, school. Apparently, young mortals have to attend it. Bye," Perseus said, before flashing back to his room, only to discover his satyr roommate looking as if he was about to wake up. Perseus jumped into action quickly and hid under his covers, feigning sleep. He had perfect timing. Just after Perseus closed his eyes, he heard the satyr, Grover Underwood, awaken and begin to leave the room, probably to meet with Chiron and discuss the events that took place earlier in the day.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians along with Heroes of Olympus do not belong to me.**_

**Author's Note: **Time is a little skewed in regards to their arrival at Camp. I didn't remember the length of time separating everything, so I just decided to wing it, knowing I was wrong. But that's the good thing about this being an AU, shit doesn't happen the same. Also, there are time skips because I hate writing the first two books.

**The Son of Kronos**

**Chapter Two**

**Previously**

"_Well, anyways, I must return to a mortal thing called, school. Apparently, young mortals have to attend it. Bye," Perseus said, before flashing back to his room, only to discover his satyr roommate looking as if he was about to wake up. Perseus jumped into action quickly and hid under his covers, feigning sleep. He had perfect timing. Just after Perseus closed his eyes, he heard the satyr, Grover Underwood, awaken and begin to leave the room, probably to meet with Chiron and discuss the events that took place earlier in the day._

**Now**

Perseus was bored. It was as simple as that.

Following the destruction of the Furies was a long, boring series of events that finally led him to where he was now, the demigod "safe-haven" Camp Half-Blood. Or at least, he was outside of it, watching the scene in front of him with a "terrified" expression on his face.

The scene before him consisted of two… well, one person and one monster, attempting to kill each other. Daniel Jenkins was fighting none other than the infamous Minotaur, unfortunately for Daniel, he was not quick enough to save his mother from the Minotaur. Exactly what happened to her was unclear, Perseus had a feeling she was alive, but he didn't really care if she was or not. While Perseus was watching the amusing wrestling match in front of him with feigned horror, the satyr "protector" assigned to them, Grover Underwood, was lying on the ground next to him, unconscious. This just proved Perseus' previous opinion of Grover being incompetent to be completely true.

Perseus saw Daniel foolishly jump onto the Minotaur's back and began yanking on one of the monster's horns. Perseus almost snorted in amusement. What did Daniel think? Did he foolishly believe that he was strong enough to yank off the Minotaur's horn? Perseus just rolled his eyes and went back to his thoughts, ignoring the fight in front of him.

It had been nearly five months since he began to play the charade of a clueless demigod named Perseus "Percy" Jackson. He had been very thorough in his disguise and was honestly rather proud of it, despite how bored he currently was. At the moment, he wanted nothing more than to fight, to destroy, to rip something to pieces. His more violent and sadistic tendencies had been quelled while in Tartarus, as down there he had hundreds of thousands of monsters he could fight and kill. Honestly, the Minotaur had been one of his favorite "toys" and had been killed by Perseus hundreds of times, simply because it annoyed him with its stupidity. While most would view that as a horrible reason to kill something, he viewed it as the perfect reason, especially since it lessened the annoyance he felt and quelled the urge he always had to go on a rampage.

Perseus' thoughts quickly took off in a different direction, settling on the image of a beautiful girl with the appearance of a Persian princess. After visiting Mt. Othrys and speaking to Atlas, he had been dismayed to hear of her betrayal. Sure, he wasn't surprised by it, but he definitely didn't expect her betrayal to hurt him so much. True, she was the only friend he had had in his youth aside from the Titans that took part in his training, but she had only ever been just that. There had never been any romance between the two, the most they had ever done was hug each other. Perseus had never even considered possibly liking her as more than a friend, both because he was so focused on training for the coming war and because he had always believed himself to be above such emotions.

So why did it hurt so much?

For the week following his freeing Atlas, Perseus had contemplated going to see Zoe to try and talk some sense into her, try and convince her to come back to the Titans, to come back to _him_. However, after thinking deeply on the subject, he had concluded trying to do such a thing would be foolish. From what he had been told, she had been with Artemis and her Hunters for almost as long as he himself had been in Tartarus, in other words, nearly three millennia. He had little doubt that over those three-thousand years she had been absolutely corrupted by Artemis and the Olympians, and while he wanted nothing more than to try and get her to see the light again, he decided to wait until a more opportune moment presented itself. One where he was in complete control of the situation. When he added in the fact that seeing Zoe now would more than likely reveal his existence to the Olympians, it became evident that there was really only one correct choice for him to make.

That still brought up the question, though. _Why _did it hurt so much? Making that decision had been more painful to Perseus than watching his father get murdered by Perseus' little siblings, something that had haunted him all throughout his self-imposed exile in the Pit. In the past, when he had questions about just about anything, he would talk to his father because his father had a lot of wisdom and the advice or answers he gave always made Perseus feel better. Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly talk to his father about this, as that would not only reveal that he may or may not feel something akin to affection for Zoe, but it would also require him actually contacting his father, which he was loath to do since it went against his own very elaborate plan.

Perseus sighed and pulled his thoughts back to the present, and just in time as luck would have it. He watched slightly shocked as Daniel shoved the Minotaur's horn into its chest, effectively killing it and sending it back to Tartarus. The god hated to admit it to himself, but he was actually impressed that a demigod with no training was actually able to kill the son of Pasiphaë, especially with the bull-man's own horn!

He was, however, much less impressed when Daniel collapsed on the ground, unconscious. Perseus truly considered just leaving him and the satyr there and just going into Camp alone, but since he was Daniel's "friend", he knew he had to take the two fools in. He grabbed Grover's left leg and Daniel's right, and slowly began the trek of dragging them up the hill and into Camp Half-Blood. He could have easily carried them both in, but it would've seemed strange to others that he, Percy Jackson, a normal demigod, had so much strength.

Plus, it would've meant him not getting to "accidentally" cause the two pain as he dragged them over rocks and other such nonsense into the camp.

_Oh joy_, he sarcastically thought to himself as he dragged the two idiots over to the rather large house, _Now I get to spend some time around the youngest of all my siblings, that stupid horse, Chiron. Just my luck._

**(Line Break)**

**One Week Later…**

It was official, Camp Half-Blood sucked. It had only been one week and he was even more bored now here at camp than he was when he had been in school, and _that_ was saying something.

Upon dragging Daniel and Grover over to the house last night, he was immediately confronted by Chiron and a girl with gray eyes and blonde hair. The girl had demanded to know his name, age, godly parent, how he got to camp, what happened, where he was from, and blah, blah, blah. He had just stared at her blankly, which had frustrated her to no end and provided him with some amusement. It had taken five minutes for Chiron to gain control of the girl, who seemed to have caught onto his amusement and had tried to attack him, before the centaur finally got her to leave, probably back to her own cabin.

Chiron had then attempted to question Perseus on what had occurred outside the borders of camp, but Perseus just stared blankly ahead, playing the part of traumatized 12-year-old demigod splendidly. Chiron, who was still using his beloved wheelchair, attempted to soothe Perseus into revealing what happened, but to no avail.

After realizing how pointless it was to keep questioning him, Chiron brought him, Daniel and Grover (both of whom were still unconscious) to the infirmary to be checked out and treated.

The only real source of entertainment Perseus had gotten since arriving was when he saw a rather large and cranky looking girl and the rest of her siblings (at least, he assumed that was who they were) drag Daniel into a bathroom, only for Daniel to be the one to come out completely dry while the rest were soaking wet.

Well, that and Luke Castellan, a son of Hermes and also his father's spy amongst the campers. When Perseus first met Luke's eyes, he instantly knew who the boy was, and despite it endangering his carefully laid plans, decided to scare the teenager a bit. During their introduction, Perseus had let the Mist that concealed his golden eyes flicker briefly, revealing their true nature to Luke whose eyes had widened impossibly large, only for the demigod to quickly gain back his bearings when "Percy" asked him what was wrong. In the end, Luke had played it off in his mind as a trick of the light, but despite that, he was still wary around Perseus, which suited the son of Kronos just fine.

"Percy" was forced to stay in the Hermes Cabin, as he had yet to be "claimed" by any of the gods. Not that he would be, of course. He was rather happy with this, as being "just another unclaimed demigod" gave him a large amount of anonymity, since almost everyone seemed determined to ignore the unclaimed demigods in the Hermes Cabin.

The calm that had overtaken the camp since the arrival of him, Grover and Daniel was broken yesterday during Capture the Flag, when it was revealed to everyone that Daniel was the son of Poseidon. Despite already knowing the boy was the son of his younger brother, Perseus' rage and hatred at Poseidon for what he helped do to his father nearly overwhelmed him, and Perseus only barely managed to hold himself back from slaughtering Daniel as an outlet for his anger. The fact that he was forced to bow to the son of his brother to maintain his disguise just added to Perseus' anger.

Perseus was pulled from his thoughts when he saw Daniel running towards him with a panicked expression on his face. "Percy!" the idiot shouted, despite Perseus already staring right at him.

He forced himself to put on a calm face and a friendly smile as he greeted his "friend". "Hey Daniel, what's up?"

"It's awful! Dude, I'm freaking out! It's terrible and I don't know what to do, man!" Daniel shouted, nonsensical.

"Daniel, take deep breaths and calm. Breathe in. Out. In. Out. Good, now what's wrong?" Percy questioned, acting worried for his friend.

"I was just given a quest. I have to somehow find and take the Master Bolt to Olympus by the summer solstice or there will be a war between the gods! The solstice is in two weeks and I have no idea where to begin! All I was given to help guide me was some stupid prophecy that makes no sense! I get to take two people with me, but I still don't know what to do!" Daniel yelled back, nearly catatonic (much to Perseus' secret amusement).

"Everything is going to be alright, Daniel. I'm confident you'll be able to complete the quest by then. All you need to do is pick your companions wisely. I would suggest that annoying blonde that you've been flirting with, Anabel I think her name was. You should also ask Luke to go with you, too. If he's not able to go, then I'm sure you can convince G-man to go with you. I _would_, but since I haven't been claimed, I'm not allowed to go on any quests," He finished, feigning sadness at the thought of never being claimed.

By the time Percy finished explaining what to do, Daniel had finally calmed down enough to think semi-rationally and nodded at his friend's words. Daniel smiled shakily at Percy, before thanking him for the advice and running off in a hurry to find Annabeth and Luke or Grover. Perseus was actually a little surprised Poseidon's brat didn't correct him when he got the girl's name wrong, but then again, he had a lot on his mind.

As Daniel was running away, Perseus' kind and friendly expression turned into an icy glare aimed right at the son of Poseidon's back. Hopefully, if the foolish boy actually took his advice and succeeded in his quest, Daniel would start to focus more on the girl, slowly drifting apart from Perseus, allowing the god his much-loved anonymity.

Once Daniel was out of sight, Perseus' glare changed into a cold smile. Everything was going according to plan. If things continued as he hoped, he would no longer need his disguise in two years. He would have to wait and see, though. And he could do that, for he was patient. After all, one doesn't spend three thousand years in Tartarus and not learn a little patience.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians along with Heroes of Olympus do not belong to me.**_

**Author's Note:** I know there has been a lot of time skips in this story, but they're going to decrease from now on since everything is about to start picking up.

**The Son of Kronos**

**Chapter Three**

**Previously**

_Once Daniel was out of sight, Perseus' glare changed into a cold smile. Everything was going according to plan. If things continued as he hoped, he would no longer need his disguise in two years. He would have to wait and see, though. And he could do that, for he was patient. After all, one doesn't spend three thousand years in Tartarus and not learn a little patience._

**Now**

**Two Years Later…**

A figure shrouded in darkness watched the scene in front of him with a cold look on his face. His eyes were golden, but glinted with maliciousness and were ice-cold as they regarded the many figures in front of him. Occasionally, his eyes would soften a fraction as they landed on one person in particular, but they would quickly turn back to their original icy state. The shadow-clad figure looked to be eighteen and was tall standing at 6'2" with an athletic build. If one were able to see through the shadows concealing him, they would see the skin-tight black t-shirt he wore, and through the shirt's own doing, they would see the outline of a very well developed six-pack that was achieved through rigorous training and hard work. If one were able to see through the shadows, they would notice the fingerless, black leather gloves he wore, and they would also see the dark boots he wore covering up some of his black and silver camouflaged cargo pants.

Overall, the man was what would be considered extremely handsome, if not beautiful, to many if it weren't for his eyes. The eyes that were always so cold and regarded everyone they looked at as beneath them, as if they were dirt. To him, there were very few people that were worthy of his attention. One of those few people was in front of him right now, bow in hand with an arrow drawn back, ready to fire at the despicable monster in front of her. Despite her betraying him and everything he believed in, the man knew she would always be worthy of his attention, whether she knew it or not.

The girl who had his attention looked to be about sixteen years old. She looked like a Persian princess with the silver circlet resting on her head. Her hair was black and in a braid pushed over one of her shoulders and her eyes were obsidian, but it was those very eyes that showed she was much older than she appeared. They possessed the look of someone who had seen hundreds of battles and thousands of years, and she wasn't the only one in the group to have such a look in her eyes, but to the man, she was the only one that mattered.

"Permission to fire, milady," the girl spoke, addressing a younger looking girl with auburn hair and silver eyes that radiated power.

"Permissions granted," was the only response she got, as the first girl let loose the arrow towards the monster in front of her.

With reflexes and speed that should have been impossible for anyone, mortal or immortal, the man jumped forward in a flip and snatched the arrow right out of the air, shocking everyone present. During his jump into action, he had released his hold on the shadows, so he was now plain to see for everyone. Multiple pairs of eyes widened as they looked at the figure in front of them, recognizing small things that were very similar to someone they used to know who had ended up disappearing.

One of these pairs of eyes belong to none other than Daniel Jenkins, the son of Poseidon. He instantly recognized who stood before them, the only differences were that he appeared slightly older and his eyes were golden. Not just golden, though. No, the eyes in front of him were also filled with malice and hate, two things he never would have associated with his old friend. Then again, he had never thought Luke would betray him, either.

Another pair of eyes belonged to a certain nosy daughter of Athena. Annabeth Chase's gray eyes were wide, but also had an analytical look as they stared at the man in front of them. She, like Daniel, recognized who was standing in front of her, but unlike Daniel, she had never liked him. Mainly because he wouldn't answer her questions and he had a nasty habit of messing up her name, much like the Camp Director, Dionysus.

Grover Underwood's eyes were also wide, as they stared at the boy-turned-man that he had brought to Camp Half-Blood with Daniel. Grover wasn't as close to him as Daniel had been, but he had still considered him a friend at one point in time.

The fourth set of eyes belonged to the young girl with auburn hair and silver eyes. She wasn't any normal young girl, no, in fact, she was the Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis. While she didn't recognize the man in front of her, she certainly knew of golden eyes whose description matched the pair she was looking at perfectly. Add in the fact that she could sense a _massive_ amount of power coming off of him and she knew they were all in trouble if he got violent.

The final set of eyes belonged to none other than the Persian princess. While she didn't quite recognize the physique and overall appearance, she _definitely_ knew those eyes and who they belonged to, and she couldn't suppress a shudder that wormed its way down her spine as he looked around with his icy golden eyes.

But despite the fear she was feeling, she also felt a small flicker of happiness at seeing her long-lost first friend again, but the fear was _definitely_ the dominant emotion.

"P-Percy?" Daniel asked hesitantly, unable to believe what he was seeing. "Percy, why did you just save the Manticore? In fact, _how did you catch an arrow_?"

"Percy" just stared at Daniel coldly for a moment, before going back to his previous scan of all the faces present. After several tense moments, the Manticore did something nobody expected.

He _bowed_.

"Lord Perseus, please forgive me, milord! I did not expect the Hunters to be here! Please, spare me and I'll prove myself useful!" The Manticore's pleading resulted in turning his cold eyes towards the monster.

"Thorn," was all he said, and it was in such a cold voice that nobody could suppress the shiver that made its way down their spines.

The monster gulped at the look he was receiving and knew that he had to do something quickly or risk being sent back to Tartarus by the God in front of him.

"Milord, i-if I don't complete my mission for the General, your father wi—urghgh!" Before the Manticore could finish his sentence, tendrils of shadows quickly wrapped themselves around his throat, quickly suffocating the monster. After a few tense seconds of struggling for the monster, the shadows snapped his neck, killing him instantly, resulting in its body dissolving into dust.

Perseus scowled at where the Manticore had been seconds prior. He hadn't originally wanted to kill the Manticore, after all, it was a strong monster and could've been useful, but it just _had _to mention his heritage. Despite it being obvious due to the appearance of his eyes, he wasn't quite ready for it to be confirmed just who his father was.

"_How dare you steal our kill, boy!?_" The goddess, Artemis, suddenly shrieked. Sure, originally she had been wary of the man in front of her, and rightfully so, but she, like the rest of the Olympians, was still very arrogant and prideful. She wasn't _as_ bad as the others, but she was still bad. Bad enough that she just so happened to forget everything she just saw, other than him stealing the Hunt's kill.

"You had best watch your tongue in the way you speak, _Artemis_. In fact, you best watch your tone as well, I find it unpleasant. In fact, don't even talk at all," Perseus spat at the Olympian goddess. _She_ was the one that had stolen Zoe from her family, from _him_.

Artemis and all of her Hunters, barring a distracted Zoe, were outraged at his statements and all attacked him at once, trying to kill the fool who dared to insult an Olympian. Before any of their arrows reached their mark, though, a shadow rushed forward and swallowed the man whole, leaving no evidence that he had ever been there aside from the Manticore's golden dust.

Suddenly, as everyone began to relax again, a scream rent the air as Perseus re-appeared behind Annabeth and dragged her with him off the cliff. The demigod questers and a few of the Hunters, including Artemis, all rushed forward to try and spot the duo, but there no sign of the two left to be found. The questers stared below with horror, grief, despair and betrayal written all over their faces as they continued to think of the horrible moment where Perseus, a former friend, had dragged Annabeth with him to their inevitable doom.

"Annabeth!" Daniel shouted out, grief-stricken. He was foolishly hoping that she would respond.

"It's no use, _boy_. The girl is no longer with us. I don't quite think she's dead, but she isn't _here_. I cannot sense her anymore," Artemis stated softly. She wasn't upset or anything for the boy, but the loss of a young maiden was always a tragedy. Her thoughts wandered back to the man who had taken the young girl. The demigods seemed to have somehow recognized the male.

Artemis pondered the situation for a bit longer. She would eventually speak with the demigods about who the man was, but at the moment, she was trying to decide whether or not she should hunt him. Normally she would pursue a hunt without hesitation, but the waves of power that had been rolling off of him made her consider her options. Regardless of what she decided, one thing was for certain: _If_ she decided to hunt him, her Hunters would _not _be going. She couldn't risk them. She cared too much about all of them to put them up against whoever that was.

Another thing the Goddess of the Hunt was thinking of was her lieutenant, Zoe. For some reason, Zoe seemed to have frozen when the man revealed himself. Artemis had gotten a small glimpse of her lieutenant's eyes and saw many things, but the most prominent among them had been terror and recognition. Although Artemis didn't want to believe it, it was entirely possible that Zoe actually _did_ recognize the man. And if that were the case, then what else was her lieutenant and best friend for nearly three millennia hiding from her? Was it possible she knew him from before she became a Hunter? All of these thoughts and many more rushed through her head as she set walked into her already set up tent.

**(Line Break)**

While Artemis was lost in thought, Daniel, Grover, Thalia, Nico and Bianca all sat gathered around a campfire near the Hunter's camp. They were unable to use the one _in _the Hunter's camp since there was a strict "No male pigs (boys) allowed" rule. Daniel, Grover and Thalia were quietly comforting each other over the abduction and possible death of Annabeth while Nico and Bianca were asking questions non-stop, only occasionally getting answers from the two demigods and satyr.

When the questions finally stopped, the three pulled themselves out of their pity-party and started to talk amongst themselves.

"I can't believe Percy would do that," Daniel whispered, shaking his head in anger and betrayal.

"Yeah, I never suspected him of being a sympathizer for the Titans and monsters, but I never suspected Luke was, either," Grover muttered back, full of despair.

"Ok, back up, back up. _Who was that guy_? You guys seem to know him, but I've never seen him before in my life!" Thalia growled out, rage at losing the girl she thought of as a sister quickly over-taking her, making sparks periodically fly off her body.

"His name is Percy Jackson and he was an unclaimed demigod at camp until he disappeared during the quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece last year. He wasn't on the quest, but he vanished one night at camp while Annabeth, Clarisse, Tyson and I were sailing to Polyphemus' Island. I first met him when I was twelve, back before I knew I was a demigod. He and Grover were my roommates at school and I _thought _he was a good friend. It turns out I was wrong, though," Daniel growled. He had trusted Percy.

"I wonder if any of it was actually true," Grover wondered aloud, drawing confused looks from Thalia and Daniel. Even Nico and Bianca seemed interested in what he was saying.

"What do you mean, G-man?"

"Well, just think about it. He suddenly showed up at the school around the same time as you did and then is suddenly placed as our roommate. He _just so happened_ to be a demigod and was _coincidentally _sharing a room with a son of the Big Three and a satyr. Also, remember how Luke seemed to be terrified of him for some reason and did his absolute best to avoid him? Then, last year he suddenly disappeared after Thalia's Tree was poisoned and while you and Annabeth were gone on a quest and I was trapped on Polyphemus' Island. We know he didn't poison the tree, since Luke readily admitted to doing it, but all just seems so suspicious to me," Grover explained, bring up several good points that Daniel hadn't thought of.

Before Daniel could comment, Grover continued. "And now he magically shows up again, but instead of his power being on the level of your average demigod, it's easily up to the power of the Big Three, maybe even surpassing their power. Also, did you notice how he looked older and his eyes? I mean, don't get me wrong, but there aren't exactly that many beings that have golden eyes, and the few that do are, to the best of my knowledge, quite hostile towards Olympus. In fact, the only ones I can really think of are Titans."

"Wow," Thalia muttered, "that was… really insightful Goat-Boy."

Daniel, Nico and Bianca all nodded their heads in agreement where Grover just blushed.

"I'm beginning to doubt he's a demigod," Thalia growled.

"I'm beginning to doubt his name is even Percy," Daniel added.

The five continued to sit in an uneasy silence, unaware that one of the Hunters had overheard their conversation.

**(Line Break)**

Zoe was worried. No, that was understatement. She was actually _terrified_. She had wandering around, lost in thought when she accidentally overheard the conversation the demigods were having. Their suspicions and comments, compounded with her own, brought her to the horrifying reality that the man had to be _him_. There was nobody else the man could be. She _wanted_ to feel joy, but the terror squashed the joy like a bug.

It had been three thousand years since she had last seen him. The last day she saw him was actually the very same day the gods launched their final assault on Othrys. She never told anyone about him, not even Artemis, and even if she hadn't taken an oath on the Styx to never reveal his existence to others, she doubted she would have.

He had been her only friend at the time. Him, the son of the Titan King, and her, the lonely daughter of Atlas. They had been the best of friends, despite him being fanatically loyal to his father. Zoe was willing to admit to herself that she had a rather large crush on him, and had been planning on telling him that day when he was suddenly summoned away by his father for an early bout of training. But she didn't care at the time, she had told herself there was always the next day.

Only there wasn't.

He had vanished during the fighting on Othrys and nobody who survived knew where he disappeared to. Her _father_ certainly hadn't. She had asked her father where he was, only for the Titan of Endurance to spit on the ground and grunt out several insults directed towards the God of Time. Atlas believed that he had abandoned and betrayed the Titans, which led to death of Kronos and himself bearing the weight of the sky.

Zoe refused to believe what she was told; it was just so unlike him. Perseus was _fanatically_ loyal to his father. He followed the Titan's every command without question, so it was entirely possible that Kronos had ordered his son to flee, or something like that. She doubted he fell in battle, as her father had made it very clear that he didn't see the God of Time during the fighting. She also knew he was incredibly skilled in combat, so a fight with him involved would've been noticed by everyone, _especially_ her father, who had, before his disappearance, constantly praised Perseus' skill.

She held onto the hope that he would come and visit for years before she finally came to the realization that he wasn't coming. Zoe doubted he meant to abandon her like that, but he had been the only person who she could actually talk to. She had never really been able to talk with her sisters, as they had nothing in common with her, but Perseus… He _understood_ her. He was her rock, and without him, she had nothing keeping her in the Garden.

She had resolved to wait a couple months before leaving when _he _showed up.

Heracles.

She hated how he had managed to charm her into helping him against Ladon. At first, he acted _so much_ like Perseus that she managed to fool herself into believing that he and Perseus had the same personality and that she could possibly fall for him. She wanted to get rid of the pain of Perseus' disappearance and thought that maybe, _just maybe_, the demigod son of Zeus could help her be rid of that pain.

But it was not to be.

He turned out to be _nothing_ like Perseus. After she had helped him defeat Ladon by way of Anaklusmos, the bastard had _abandoned _her, treating her like dirt in the process and saying several harsh things at her. To top it all off, her father had learned of her betrayal and had banished her from the Garden. Despite having wanted to leave the wretched place for so long, it was still painful to be forced out of the only home she had ever known.

But she endured.

She spent months on her own in the wild until one day, she accidentally wandered into the camp of Artemis' (at the time) newly formed Hunt. The rest, as they say, is history.

However, despite joining the Hunt, she had never fully gotten over Perseus. Zoe knew she still had strong feelings for him, but she was terrified of what he thought of her after her betrayal. Part of her thought he would understand. After all, he knew very well just how much she _loathed_ that Garden. Although, it wasn't so much the Garden that she hated as it was the feeling of being trapped, as well as constantly being surrounded by monsters that served the Titans. Another part of her, however, feared that he would feel like she betrayed him _personally_, as he had long ago made it crystal clear to her that he would forever be loyal to his father.

She really shouldn't have been so surprised that he chose _now _of all times to re-surface. It was common knowledge amongst the Hunters that the Titans were making a come-back. Artemis very rarely kept important news from her Hunters and had told them how there were stirrings in Tartarus and that the Titans were likely attempting to rise once more.

That brought her back to her problem, though. She knew that, if Perseus was _truly_ back and fighting for his father, then the odds of the Olympians winning the coming war would be reduced _drastically_. He wasn't the God of Battle for no reason, after all.

She was lost in her thoughts when something occurred to her.

She was free from her oath. Perseus himself had revealed his existence, and even if he didn't reveal who he was, it was still known that he _existed_. Despite that, Zoe had a choice to make. She could betray what little she had left of Perseus' trust and, in a roundabout way, betray her lady _or_ she could tell her goddess, who would more than likely be _very_ upset that her best friend never revealed his existence. She knew the argument that she had taken an oath on the Styx would probably be able to calm her down a bit, but at the same time, Zoe doubted she would ever have Artemis' full trust ever again.

Zoe growled in frustration. She didn't know what to do. She was basically choosing between the two best friends she ever had, one of whom she loved as a sister and the other of whom she could have loved as something more, once upon a time.

Zoe wasn't a fool, she was almost certain Artemis had noticed her freeze up when Perseus revealed himself and caught that arrow. _It's just like him to do something like that_, she thought amused before remembering the severity of the situation. Taking into account Artemis more than likely noticing her reaction, Zoe knew she only really had one option, no matter how painful it might be for her.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians along with Heroes of Olympus do not belong to me.**_

_**Note:**_ I am not going to even _try _to use Zoe's accent, for I feel doing so would make me look like an even bigger fool than I am.

**The Son of Kronos**

**Chapter Four**

**Previously**

_Zoe wasn't a fool, she was almost certain Artemis had noticed her freeze up when Perseus revealed himself and caught that arrow. It's just like him to do something like that, she thought amused before remembering the severity of the situation. Taking into account Artemis more than likely noticing her reaction, Zoe knew she only really had one option, no matter how painful it might be for her._

**Now**

**Immediately After Disappearing…**

"AHH!" The daughter of Athena shrieked loudly as they re-appeared on Mt. Othrys. "Let me go! You traitor!" She continued to screech at her captor, who was quickly getting irritated with her loud and annoying voice.

"_Shut up!_" Perseus snarled, thoroughly annoyed at how everything had turned out. Everything that could have gone wrong with his plan, _did_ go wrong. For starters, the foolish Manticore had nearly revealed his lineage. To make it worse, Perseus had gotten lost in his anger at Artemis and at seeing Zoe. And _finally_, he had, in his rage and irritation, kidnapped _the most annoying demigod ever_! Seriously, why couldn't he have grabbed Grover or one of Hades' kids instead, at least they wouldn't annoy the hell out of him by simply existing! Out of all of his siblings, he hated Hestia and Hades the least. He hated them, make no mistake, but he hated the others more.

The absolute worst part of everything, though, was that he had foolishly decided he didn't need a disguise. By revealing himself, he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Zoe was freed from her oath on the Styx. Considering how she had betrayed the Titans before, he had no doubt she would do it again. _Go ahead and reveal yourself, I said. Everything will be fine, I said. Bah! What do I know?_

"Perseus?" He heard a loud voice ask from behind him.

Perseus whipped around to see who was talking, throwing the annoying daughter of Athena to the side in the process (he also may or may not have used his power over creation to shackle her to the wall and put a gag in her mount), and saw Atlas looking at him, confused.

"Oh, hey Atlas," he muttered, his irritation and anger simmering beneath the surface.

"What are you doing here?" The Titan questioned.

"Oh, you know, just hangin' out. I decided that I just _had _to abduct me an Athenian demigod. The kids are going crazy for them today, so y'know, I figured '_Why the hell not?'_," he shot back, sarcastically. Seriously, he had to wonder why he wasn't made the God of Sass and Sarcasm on top of all of his other domains.

Atlas just stared at him blankly before snorting, "Remind me again how you _aren't _the God of Sarcasm?"

"I was just wondering the same thing, except I also included Sass as a domain," he admitted with a small smile, his mood changing rapidly.

"You don't even need your other domains. You could just be the God of Sass and Sarcasm. Instead of actually fighting, you would just sass your opponents until it got to the point that they just killed themselves to get away from you," Atlas joked in a laid-back manner that few had _ever _witnessed him using.

Perseus snorted in amusement, wondering briefly how they had even gotten to such a topic.

"In all seriousness, though, what are you doing here, Perseus?" Atlas questioned again.

"Well, for starters I came here to tell you that your pet Manticore won't be coming back. He annoyed me one time too many… which was one time, so I may or may not have killed him. Secondly, I came here because I ran into Artemis and her Hunters, _including her lieutenant_," Perseus emphasized his point there. Atlas caught onto what Perseus was saying and narrowed his eyes in anger. Not at Perseus but at the reminder of his daughter's betrayal and her joining Artemis' Hunt. "And finally, in my anger at that pathetic Moon Goddess, I may have abducted a demigod. However, with my luck, I just so happened to abduct the _most annoying demigod EVER!_" The last part of his speech was directed at the struggling (and still, thankfully, gagged) daughter of Athena.

Atlas nodded in response, "That makes enough sense. You do realize, however, that by coming here, your father has undoubtedly sensed your presence, correct?"

Perseus nodded, "Yeah, I figured it was time to give the old man some good news. After all, he's been stuck with incompetent demigods and monsters until just recently. I also have a few choice words for him regarding him forcing me to flee during the final battle three-thousand years ago."

The Titan of Endurance again snorted in amusement, only Perseus would consider telling off the terrifying Titan King. "Come, Perseus, it is time for you to speak to your father. In the meantime, I'll go about getting the daughter of Athena to take over my burden from that foolish son of Hermes. And before you ask, yes, I _did_ destroy those pillars holding up the sky and may have forced a couple of demigods and monsters to take over. I've mainly used it as a way to punish those who have failed."

Perseus nodded in understanding before his eyes regained their icy look. There were very few people he ever revealed his friendly and joking side to. Zoe, the Primordials in Tartarus, Atlas, his father and a few other Titans were the only ones to ever see beyond the frosty image the eldest son of Kronos constantly wore. Well, and the daughter of Athena, but that didn't matter much, as she would be dying soon.

Atlas led Perseus around the mountain towards the slowly reforming palace in which the Titans ruled from so many millennia ago. Much like Perseus' father, the Olympians had destroyed the palace as thoroughly as they could, leaving behind nothing but rubble. Thankfully, as Kronos slowly grew stronger, the palace reformed along with him.

Perseus soon found himself getting lost in memories of his childhood inside the palace. He was always either running around like crazy, causing havoc everywhere he went or he was following his father around, learning what he could from the Titan. That was before everything changed, though. Before his grandfather, Ouranos, went insane and his grandmother, Gaia, had Kronos, Iapetus, Hyperion, Krios and Koios kill the Primordial of the Sky with a scythe that she gifted to Kronos.

Following Ouranos' destruction, everyone, including Perseus, became much more serious, especially Kronos. Kronos was named King of the Titans and was therefore in charge of the world. With Kronos becoming King and the curse prophecy given by Ouranos, Perseus suddenly found himself having a lot less fun and training constantly. But he wasn't bothered by it, he thoroughly enjoyed the training, even if it was grueling.

Perseus' thoughts turned to his mother, Rhea. He'd never really been all that close to her and she never put any effort into getting to know him. Back when he was young, he always wondered why she didn't like spending time with him and why she didn't treat him like he saw other mothers treating their children, but he just put it off as a part of her personality. That opinion changed, though, when he witnessed the horror and anger she had on her face when Kronos had eaten baby Hestia. He was able to see the love she held for her daughter and the hatred and disgust she felt for his father and he. The emotions were plain and clear in her eyes.

A week following the consumption of Hestia, Perseus told his father what he had seen in his mother's eyes and the Titan King admitted that he, too, had seen it. After that, Kronos went about extracting and oath on the Styx from Rhea about never mentioning Perseus to anyone who didn't already know about him. Perseus was always a closely guarded secret and most Titans had to make the oath before they were allowed to know about him. His mother had been one of the exceptions, though, as she was just that. His _mother_. After seeing her reaction towards the two of them, though, Kronos had thought it to be best to just get the oath from her in case she ever tried anything underhanded.

_Perseus… _he heard a voice whisper in his head. Perseus pulled himself out of his thoughts and saw the golden sarcophagus his father was undoubtedly reforming in. He quickly kneeled down, basking in being in his father's presence after so many years.

"Father," he spoke aloud, his voice full of reverence and happiness.

_I'm glad that you managed to survive these past three millennia, my son. What have you been doing? _His father's voice questioned in his head.

"Well… following your murder at the hands of my _siblings_," he spat out the word, "I travelled down to Tartarus to train. I chose Tartarus because, not only was it a great place to train, but it was also far, _far _away from those pathetic fools who usurped you. I decided to lie in wait deep in the Pit, training and killing monsters, whilst waiting for you to rise once more so we could destroy Olympus together. I knew you wouldn't want me to fight by your side if I was weak, so I spent nearly three-thousand years down there working hard to get better. I slaughtered thousands upon thousands of monsters before I ended up garnering the attention of Grand-Uncle Tartarus, himself."

His father waited patiently for him to continue his story as Perseus took a moment to gather his thoughts and memories once more.

"When he saw that it was me he volunteered to help me with my training. I was _beyond _excited, after all, he's one of the most powerful Primordials and one hell of a fighter. So I accepted his offer and trained with him for two-hundred years. And I must say, it was the most miserable and grueling two-hundred years of my life, but it was _definitely _worth it. Upon completing the final task he assigned to me during my training, he allowed me to forge myself a Symbol of Power in his own personal forge. I then went even deeper into the Pit to find the material I wanted to craft my symbol with when I finally came across an Adamantine deposit."

Kronos mentally hummed at that revelation. Adamantine was _extremely _rare. People seemed to think that his own scythe was a mix of Celestial Bronze and mortal steel, which it was, but people never mentioned the small amount of Adamantine in it.

Perseus then continued again, "After find the Adamantine, I returned to Tartarus' Palace, where he gifted me a small amount of _another _metal to help me with my Symbol. The metal he gave me was something called Void Metal, which only the Primordials could get ahold of and was apparently what their own Symbols of Power were made out of. One of the properties it has is being able to force an immortal to fade, which will _definitely _come in handy in the very near future."

Perseus could feel his father mentally nodding his head in agreement with that last statement.

"It took me nearly a decade to make, but when I finished making it, I tempered it in the Delta of Despair, which actually gave it some characteristics from each of the rivers. I was very pleased with the end result. It's a blood red blade named 'Μανία της κόλασης' (Hell's Fury). After tempering and naming it, I then set out on my own to do some favors for the various immortals in Tartarus. I did it in hopes of achieving their blessings on the sword so it would be even stronger.

"Over the course of the next five centuries, I had completed favors for Tartarus, Erebus, the Primordial Chronos, Nyx, and Grandmother, and, like I had hoped, they all blessed Hell's Fury as a result," Perseus explained, only for his father to interrupt him.

_What were these favors that they had you do?_

Perseus frowned slightly. He had been on a roll, "Well, Tartarus had me fight and destroy an ancient monster that was causing trouble deeper down in his realm. The monster ended up being the dragon Draco but I was thankfully able to destroy him after a long and _very_ bloody fight. I had to use my divine form in order to even stand a fighting chance against him, but in the end, I won. The blessing he put on Hell's Fury allows me to control and army of up to five-hundred monsters. Later on, that blessing was rendered null when I took control of the Arena, but that's later on in the story. He did, however, re-bless it so I could enter and exit the Pit at will, open holes that lead down there, and so I can teleport around while in the Pit.

"For Chronos, I had to train under him and learn everything that my Time domain entitled. I didn't—still don't, for that matter—see how it was a favor to him, but I decided I would just accept the help and not complain. His blessing on my sword granted me essentially doubles my power over my time domain while using my Symbol of Power.

"For Erebus, I had to kill one of his demi-Primordial children who began to recruit monsters in an attempt to overthrow him. He would have done it himself, but he, unlike me, is restricted by the Ancient Laws. In return for slaughtering his half-blood son, Erebus blessed the blade so my power over shadows and darkness is greatly increased when I use it. His blessing also makes it look like liquid shadows are constantly falling off of it, which I think is pretty cool, so I'm happy with it.

"For Nyx… well, the favor I did for her was the exact same as Erebus'. She just wanted me to make sure the illegitimate child died in a horrendous way. She seems to _really _hate Erebus' bastard children. Her blessing makes me stronger at night when I use the sword _and _enhances my control of shadows _even _further than before.

"And finally, for Grandmother, my favor/task is a long-standing one, one I would have done regardless. She wanted me to help you regain a body, which, again, I would have done without her asking me. She blessed the sword so the earth would heal any and every wound I suffer while holding onto the blade and being connected to the ground in some way. I really wish I got that ability with my domain, but nope, I wasn't lucky enough."

At this point, Perseus paused again to catch his breath while his father processed all of the new information he had just been given.

_What happened next?_ Kronos asked after about five minutes of silence.

"After I received all the blessings, I just hung around Tartarus' Palace for about twenty years before I got really bored. I then decided to go ahead and compete in the Arena of Tartarus. That decision certainly made Grand-Uncle happy. Anyways, the fights in the Arena started off rather small. Pathetically so. Just a couple of empousai here, some hellhounds, a few cyclopes and a couple dozen dracaenae. It was honestly really boring. It didn't really get any more difficult for me from that point on, despite me slowly beginning to fight stronger and stronger monsters. The fights with the Minotaur, Manticore, drakons, Gorgons, Orthrus and sphinx were all jokes. The Chimera, Medusa, Lamia—who I actually let live, don't ask me why—and Echidna were _slightly _harder. The Lernaean Hydra, Nemean Lion and Python were even more annoying, but again, they were nothing I couldn't handle, especially after fighting Draco. Soon, though, I found myself facing my _dear _cousin, Perses, apparently my Titan counterpart…"

_And?_ Kronos questioned, wondering why his son trailed off.

"I was actually rather disappointed with how weak he was and how easy the fight had been. But anyways, I spent the next two millennia controlling the Arena while waiting for your consciousness to reform again. I finally sense your stirring consciousness a little over twenty years ago, at which point I began to prepare for your return. Now you know what I've been doing."

Kronos gave the mental equivalent of a nod of approval before asking, _And why did you wait so long to reveal yourself to me?_

At this, Perseus took on a slightly sheepish look, "As of two years ago, I _may_ have suspected that you would tell one of the spies you inevitably have in the demigod camp about my existence. So I decided to free Atlas and keep my return hush-hush. The less people who knew I was back, the better. Plus, I decided it would be best to reveal myself to you when you were slightly stronger and in the process of reforming."

The Titan King let out a mental snort at his son's confession but let it be. It didn't really matter all that much to him, his beloved son was here now, ready to help him destroy the Olympians.

"So what's the plan, Pops?" Perseus asked suddenly.

At that comment, Kronos changed his mind. His son was not beloved; he was _definitely not_ beloved.

**(Line Break)**

**Meanwhile…**

Zoe was slowly walking towards her mistress' tent. She knew her Artemis was going to be upset with her for hiding something so important for so long, but after learning how she was physically _incapable _of revealing the truth, she was at least _hoping _for some leniency from the Goddess. After all, she had served faithfully for almost three-thousand years. She'd been Artemis' lieutenant for nearly twenty-five hundred and had been the Goddess' best friend for the exact same length of time. If anything, _Zoe _was over-reacting. Even the excitement of getting a new sister in the form of Bianca didn't calm her down.

She soon reached Artemis' tent, but before she could ask for permission to come in, she heard her mistress calmly say, "You may enter, Zoe."

Zoe hesitantly made her way into Artemis' tent. For three millennia, she had felt completely at ease while in this tent, but now, she was just a nervous wreck.

Artemis eyed her carefully for a minute, easily sighting the Hunter's signs of nervousness, before she smiled, hoping to put her best friend at ease. "You may sit down, Zoe. Also, you know you're always welcome in here, so there was no need for you to wait and ask for permission to enter, which I know you were going to do, even if I never gave you the chance to."

"Thank you, milady," Zoe mumbled, blushing and calming down slightly at Artemis' reassurances.

"Now, what is it you wished to speak with me about, Zoe?" The goddess asked, suddenly serious.

Zoe began to nervously twiddle her thumbs. Her palms were sweaty and, despite the reassurance given by Artemis, the goddess' suddenly serious attitude made some of her previous nervousness return. "I-I wanted to speak with you about the man who showed up earlier."

Artemis raised an eyebrow before gesturing for Zoe to go on.

"Please, let me explain everything before you say anything. As you know, I have always been loyal to the Hunt ever since I joined it three thousand years ago. And, as you know, I was betrayed by Heracles and banished from my home by my father, Atlas, as a result for helping the bastard. But what you don't know is my true past. Yes, as you know, I was a Hesperide and attended to the Gardens, but that wasn't all. About thirty years before I was betrayed, ten years before the Titans' defeat, I was made to swear an oath on the Styx to never reveal a secret. Thankfully, all the requirements for me to reveal it have been met, so I can now tell you without any repercussions."

Zoe took a few deep breaths in a futile attempt to calm her nerves. Artemis noticed this and, once again, gave her a reassuring smile before gesturing for her to continue. Zoe smiled slightly, "T-The oath was to never speak to anyone about the existence of that man, unless he were to reveal himself to them first…

"His name is Perseus, milady, and he's the _real_ eldest child of Kronos."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians along with Heroes of Olympus do not belong to me.**_

**The Son of Kronos**

**Chapter Five**

**Previously**

_Zoe took a few deep breaths in a futile attempt to calm her nerves. Artemis noticed this and, once again, gave her a reassuring smile before gesturing for her to continue. Zoe smiled slightly, "T-The oath was to never speak to anyone about the existence of that man, unless he were to reveal himself to them first…_

"_His name is Perseus, milady, and he's the _real_ eldest child of Kronos."_

**Now**

Artemis was staring at her lieutenant, uncomprehending. _Surely_ she had misheard what Zoe just said. It would have been impossible for such a secret to be kept for so long. _Somebody_ would have eventually let word of his existence slip, _even if_ they were under an oath on the Styx. Oaths on the Styx could be broken, her half-sister Thalia was proof enough of that. So _how_ was it possible that everyone who had knowledge of the man never revealed his existence, even if by accident?

Zoe began to fidget nervously as Artemis continued to stare at her blankly. Artemis knew she should try and reassure her Hunter, but her mind was still reeling at what she was just told.It was true thatthere were plenty of immortals who had the ability to hide themselves from the Olympians and were able to keep their existence a secret, but the secret was always revealed eventually, and _none _of them had nearly as big of an impact as _another _child of Kronos would have.

"Zoe," Artemis began quietly, "are you _absolutely certain _that he is a child of Kronos? Is there even the _slightest chance _that you're wrong?"

The Hunter shook her head despairingly, tears streaking down her face now, "I'm certain, milady. He's not just _a _child, he's _the _child. I would recognize his eyes anywhere."

Artemis' mind was going haywire. Even if immortals were able to handle and process information a lot better than mortals, there were still some things that were just too much and kicked their brain into overdrive. The revelation that there was _another _son of Kronos out there, one who was eve older than _Hestia_… well, that would _definitely _qualify as 'too much to handle'.

"Well then, I… I must hunt him. It shall be a solo hunt, tell the girls to prepare, I'll call my brother and have him take you all to Camp Half-Blood," Artemis muttered, no longer paying attention as she thought about everything she had just learned.

"No!" Zoe suddenly shouted, shocking Artemis out of her dazed state. "Milady, you _mustn't _hunt him, he's _far _too dangerous!"

Artemis' eyebrows furrowed and she frowned at her lieutenant, "Are you implying that I would _fail _on my hunt?"

"Yes, milady, and if you'd just let me explain why, you'll understand why I'm firmly of that belief," Zoe responded in a panicked voice.

Artemis gave Zoe a curt nod of her head.

"Perseus… Perseus was being trained by the Titans before Hestia was being born. I was, of course, not alive at the time, but he told me stories. His father, my father, Pallas, Iapetus, Koios, Oceanus and Hyperion all took part in training him, both in weapons _and _his powers. He's the God of Time, Elements, Battle, Creation, Storms, Earth, Destruction, and Darkness. By the time I met him, he was able to defeat all of them in battle save Pallas and Kronos himself. I don't know what he's been up to for the past three thousand years, but I have no doubts that he's gotten stronger. _Far_ stronger."

The goddess just stared at her, processing the long list of domains she had listed and who his trainers had been. After a few minutes, Artemis broke the tense silence by asking almost inaudibly, "What was he to you?"

Zoe hesitated. She knew her best friend would be on the look-out for any lies, but at the same time, she didn't want to reveal the full extent of her feelings for the son of Kronos. Hades, _she_ wasn't even quite sure what the full extent of her feelings for him was. She knew she cared deeply for and held affection for him, but she wasn't sure if it was love or not; even if it _did _turn out to be love, a relationship between the two of them was impossible. She was a Hunter of Artemis and she was loyal to her mistress, whereas he was the eldest son of Kronos and was fanatically loyal to his father and the Titans. Also, she was almost certain that he saw her presence with Artemis as a personal betrayal and an insult.

"I-I… Once upon a time, he was my best friend. Before I joined the Hunt, back when the Titans were still in power. He had been getting lonely, his only real friends being his trainers, and I _was _alone, as I had nothing in common with my sisters, something I know my _father_ noticed. One day, while I was tending to the Garden, my father summoned me to him. Being the _obedient _daughter I was, at the time, I quickly made my way to him, only to be shocked when I found him with Kronos and Perseus. Kronos told me to swear an oath on the Styx and I did. One did not refuse the Titan King, it just didn't happen. After I swore the oath, Perseus hesitantly introduced himself and who he was. If you saw his eyes earlier, you would have seen how they were gold but held only malice in them. That was how he looked at me when we first met.

"Our fathers left us alone with each other, ordering us to get to know one another, and they went off to do their own thing. After a few tense minutes, I started to ask him things about himself and, while he was cold for a long while, he eventually started to open up to me. The more he opened up to me, the more his eyes lost their cold, malicious glint. In place of that maliciousness was joy. After getting past his hardened exterior, I found out that he was generally a happy person. There were a few subjects that even mentioning would cause him to put back up that cold wall, such as Rhea, but there were very few of them.

"We became good friends on that day and soon he started to visit me in the Garden when he wasn't training. Just like he opened up to me, I opened up to him. I told him of my hatred for being imprisoned in the Garden and how I longed to explore the world. As the years went by, he became my best friend. But then came the day Othrys fell. I knew nothing of what happened during the battle and tried to find information on it. I kept hoping he could stop by, if only briefly, to talk, but he never showed up. He had completely disappeared and I haven't seen him since."

Zoe paused, regaining her bearings, "Until earlier, that is. I am absolutely certain that man was Perseus, the cold, golden eyes, the way he caught that arrow, and his mastery over shadows was a dead giveaway. If that wasn't enough of a giveaway, the Manticore began to mention how he was on a mission for Perseus' father, at which point he murdered the monster he had only moments prior saved. I knew just by looking at him that he changed. I'm sure he's become far more like his father, and although we didn't really see him fight, I have little doubt that his skills in battle have improved by leaps and bounds.

"I hope that answers your question, Lady Artemis," Zoe finished finally.

Artemis just stared at the girl who she thought she had known everything about. The girl who, until recently, she had thought was her best friend. Maybe she still was her best friend, after all, the things she had just revealed were all very personal, not to mention she had been under an oath on the Styx. Regardless, that didn't change the fact that her lieutenant had deceived her.

Maybe if Artemis had been thinking rationally, she wouldn't have said what she did next.

"I stand by my decision. I am going to hunt down that _boy _and bring him before the Olympians. Now, do as I said and tell the girls to prepare for Apollo's arrival," she paused for a moment. "Might as well warn the demigods, too."

Zoe tried to protest, but Artemis merely silenced her with a look and dismissed Zoe to carry out her orders while she prepared for her own, personal mission.

**(Line Break)**

"Where's Apollo? I swear, he's always late in the winter," Artemis commented, annoyed.

The demigods, Hunters of Artemis and Artemis herself were all gather near the edge of the cliff that Annabeth and Perseus had gone over the previous day. The demigods kept themselves isolated from the Hunters and talked amongst themselves about various things. Meanwhile, the Hunters were all complaining to each other about needing to get a ride from Apollo of all people and were asking Artemis why they couldn't join her on her solo hunt. Zoe attempted to convince Artemis not to go on the hunt once more, only for the goddess to quickly ignore her pleas.

Suddenly a bright light started to approach them and Artemis shouted, "Everyone close your eyes until he lands!" Quickly following the goddess' orders, the demigods, Hunters, and lone satyr did as they were told and waited to open them once more until the light seemed to dim, no longer glaring through their closed eyelids.

"Little Sis!" Everyone suddenly heard. All eyes turned to the source of the voice. The owner of the voice appeared to be a tall nineteen-year-old guy with bright blonde hair and mischievous blue eyes. He was staring at the twelve-year-old-looking goddess with a large, stupid grin plastered over his face.

Artemis just sighed, exhausted. "Apollo, how many times have we been over this? I am _not _you 'Little Sis', I'm older than you, idiot! I helped deliver you, for gods' sake!"

Apollo just rolled his eyes, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Little Sis." The god then turned his attention to the large gathering of teenagers around him. His focus quickly zeroed in on his sister's Hunters. "Hey girls," he said with a flirtatious wink at some of the older Hunters, who just glared back at him.

"For the last time, Apollo, do _not _flirt with my Hunters!" Artemis screamed at him, before hitting him hard over the head.

The God of the Sun flinched at his sister's shrill voice and rubbed the back of his head. Despite appearing to be a little girl, Artemis could sure hit hard. He soon raised his arms up in surrender, "Fine, fine. No flirting with your Hunters. Got it. So whatcha need, Little Sis? You never call, you don't write, I haven't heard from you in _ages_!" He finished dramatically.

Artemis grumbled to herself before saying, "I need you to take my Hunters and these demigods to Camp Half-Blood. I have a solo hunt I need to go on, so I don't have to take them to camp myself."

"Alright, a one-way trip to Camp Half-Blood, sounds simple enough. All aboard!" The god shouted, suddenly appearing as a train conductor. When nobody moved towards the Sun Chariot, he turned around and saw it was still in its car appearance. "Oh, I should probably change that," he muttered as he snapped his fingers, turning it into a bus.

The Hunters and demigods slowly boarded the bus, but in the meantime, Zoe made one last futile attempt to stop Artemis from going after Perseus. She was truly worried for her mistress, and knew that if the goddess decided to try and pursue Perseus, bad things would happen. Unfortunately for the lieutenant, the goddess wouldn't hear any of it and ordered her to get on the bus while she resumed a speedy conversation with her annoying brother.

Zoe sighed and moved to the back of the bus to sit with her sisters. She had hoped to get through to Artemis, but she knew once Artemis had mind set on something, it was nearly impossible to change. She was just stubborn like that.

Meanwhile, the demigods had all elected to sit in the front of the bus, as far away as possible from the Hunters, who would occasionally throw harsh glares towards the males in their group before going back to conversing with one-another.

"Alright! Who wants to drive?" Apollo called out cheerfully as he walked up onto the bus. After a few seconds of nobody volunteering, Apollo took on a crestfallen expression before seeing Thalia and brightening up once more. "Other Little Sis! Come on up here and drive! Don't give me that face, it's not that difficult and I'll be right here to walk you through it!"

Needless to say, the flight back to Camp Half-Blood was _anything _but pleasant.

**(Line Break)**

Perseus was currently stealthily hunting his prey, who was ironically none other than the Goddess of the Hunt herself, Phoebe Artemis. Despite the stealth and focus his current missions required, Perseus couldn't help but let his thoughts drift a little.

During his self-imposed exile in Tartarus, he hadn't really thought about the events that led to his father's defeat so much as he planned revenge on those who had murdered the man. He hadn't really thought too deeply into the chain of events thought caused Kronos' downfall, but at the moment, he just kept thinking back to the point where he felt the most responsibility for causing the Titan King's death.

_***Flashback***_

_Perseus stared silently at the tiny figure before him. He didn't understand how the tiny little… _thing_… in front of him was a possible threat to his father's power. Despite himself, he felt oddly affectionate towards it. Regardless of the affection he felt rising within himself, he knew what had to be done, so he forced the emotions he was feeling back down. _

No, _Perseus thought to himself. _She might end up overthrowing Father. That's something I _cannot_ allow to happen. Sure, she may look harmless and peaceful right now, but she's still a threat to his power. These… _emotions_… I feel towards her are only because I've never seen a baby before. After she's gone, everything will go back to normal and I won't feel these sickening emotions anymore.

_But as Perseus stared at his little sister, little baby Hestia, he found that no matter how hard he tried, he _just couldn't do it_! He repeatedly tried to force his arm to stab downward, to bury his dagger into the small body of his new-born sister, but despite his mind telling his body to do it, he just _couldn't_. He had always been taught by his father that family was everything. That family was important and they should be loved and embraced with open arms. Yet here he was, trying to end his little sister, someone who had yet to even speak. Here he was, trying to cut her existence short, for the simple reason of keeping his father in power._

_He sighed in frustration and brought the dagger back down to his side as he stared quietly at the snoozing baby. The whole reason he had been trying to kill her was because he knew that his father had nothing planned for her. Nothing planned to prevent her from becoming a threat. He knew that, for once, his father, the man he had _always _looked up to, didn't know what to do._

_Perseus thought deeply as he stared down at the softly snoring form of his baby sister. He was, of course, curious what it would be like to be an older brother. To have younger siblings that would look up to him for help and guidance. He wanted to know what it would be like to hold the affections of the little sister he was staring at. Would she love him? Or would she end up hating him? Was it possible that she could be loyal to him, and more importantly, their father?_

No, _he decided. _Ouranos was quite clear that I will be the only one forever loyal to Father. She has to go. _As he reached that conclusion, a sickening feeling erupted in his chest. It was agonizing and he struggled to figure out what it was. After minutes of it, he finally discovered what it was._

_Guilt._

_Fighting back the guilt that was eating him up inside, Perseus concocted a plan that would solve everything. He began to feel elated, but the guilt was still there._

Hestia doesn't have to die, but at the same time, she won't be a threat to Father! _Perseus thought excitedly, ignoring the more sickening of the two raging emotions within him. Focusing solely on his excitement and elation, the guilt slowly faded away._

_Perseus quietly snuck out of baby Hestia's room and rushed to find his father. He just had to tell him of the brilliant plan. Perseus knew the Titan wouldn't immediately like it, after all, family was very important to him. But at the same time, Perseus was sure that it would be the best solution for everyone in the end. A twinge of guilt tried to worm its way back up to the surface, but he pushed it back down _again_ as he thought of his _brilliant _plan once more._

Kronos will have to swallow Hestia whole.

**(**_**Author's Note:**_ I really don't like how this part turned out, but I felt like I needed to include it for insight on Perseus' personality _before _the First Titan War.**)**

_***End Flashback***_

Perseus suddenly felt sick to his stomach. _He _had caused his father's downfall. If it weren't for him, then Kronos never would have devoured sweet baby Hestia. Nor would he have subsequently devoured Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, and Rhea. Or even that rock that was apparently disguised as Zeus. And if Kronos had never eaten his children, then they never would have had a reason to hate the Titan and overthrow him.

Suddenly, Perseus found himself wondering why his father didn't hate or blame him.

After a few minutes of internally warring with himself, he _finally _remembered why he had been so confident in his plan. He remembered why he thought it was the best possible choice. His reasoning behind _everything_.

Yes, it was true that his siblings were imprisoned in Kronos' stomach, but it was either that or kill them. Letting them live had never really been an option. Ouranos' curse on the Titan King had ensured that they all would have betrayed their father at some point in the future. No matter what, Kronos would have been overthrown. Perseus had merely suggested the option that seemed to hold the best possible outcome. His father must have realized all of this, which was why he didn't hate Perseus.

Despite the guilt he felt at his role in his father's downfall, he couldn't help but sigh softly in relief. He was over-reacting and over-thinking everything.

Suddenly, he was pulled from his thoughts when a silver arrow embedded itself in his shoulder. Golden ichor quickly gushed out of the wound when he violently yanked the arrow out and he stared at the wound blankly for a moment. Soon, another arrow came flying towards him, but before it could reach him, he snatched it out of the air and looked in the direction it came from.

His golden eyes were harshly glowing, fueled by his fury at allowing himself to get distracted. He was even angrier that he had allowed himself to be _hit _because of the distraction. He glared at the exact person he had just been hunting, the Goddess of the Hunt. A vicious snarl plastered its way onto his face. He was going to make here _suffer_.

Artemis, seeing the furious look on his face, shot five more arrows at him in rapid succession. While he was busy dodging and weaving his way around the arrows with an inhuman grace, Artemis fired three more arrows before vanishing her bow and summoning her daggers and charging her target with all the speed and grace she could muster.

Unfortunately for Artemis, Perseus was ridiculously skilled at dodging and managed to evade each and every arrow she shot at him. By the time the goddess reached him and started to attack with her daggers, he had managed to summon forth Hell's Fury and managed to parry and dodge her attacks.

Thanks to Gaia's blessing on the sword, Perseus' shoulder wound quickly began to heal as he fought with the goddess. Where previously there had been golden ichor spurting out of the wound, there was now sand and it was instead healing and closing said wound at a rapid pace. Perseus continued to fight the foolish goddess before him, unbothered by the rapidly healing hole in his shoulder.

The very first time he had ever used Gaia's healing blessing, saying it had felt weird would have been an understatement. It had felt to his as if his entire body had fallen asleep and the sight of the sand gushing out of his body had left him highly perturbed. However, after dealing with the feeling on several more occasions, he had quickly grown accustomed to it.

Artemis, however, was not so calm. When she saw the gaping hole in Perseus' shoulder start spitting out sand instead of golden ichor, she knew she was in trouble. After only thirty seconds of up close fighting, the wound had already fully healed itself and Perseus began to parry and dodge her attacks with ever-growing ease.

At some point in the increasingly difficult fight, Artemis had changed into her divine form in an attempt to gain the upper hand against her opponent. Unfortunately for her, the large increase in power and speed granted by using her divine from was only _just _enough for her to keep up with her opponent's constant slashes. Unlike her, Perseus had not changed to his divine form, he was, after all, merely toying with her at this point.

Suddenly she saw an opening and, making a split-second decision, decided to take it. She feinted a slash with her left dagger at his midsection and stabbed downward with her right aiming for his foot. She had believed that he would parry away her strike towards his chest but would be unable to move his foot in time. What she hadn't expected him to do, however, was flip over her strikes and elbow her in the back of the head, making her momentarily lose her balance.

During the split-second following her loss of balance, Perseus managed to land a shallow cut along the goddess' left leg, drawing an ear-piercing shriek as she felt the blade start to rip away at her very being. She had never before felt such agonizing pain. Before she could react to the pain beyond the shriek, Perseus slammed the hilt of his sword into the back of her head, sending her into unconsciousness.

Perseus stared coldly at the unconscious goddess before him. To him, the fight had been rather boring. In fact, there had been monsters in Tartarus that had put up more of a fight than her. He didn't even really consider it a fight. Beyond getting hit by the one arrow at the very start, she hadn't even managed to land a blow on him and he had merely been toying with her the entire time. Even when she took her divine form, he had _still _been playing with her. He had honestly expected a lot more from a goddess whose prowess in battle was the stuff of legends on Olympus.

He sighed and shook his head. Perhaps he had over-estimated her, he didn't even use any of his powers aside from healing his shoulder, and yet, over the course of their short fight he had counted thirteen different openings where he could have ended it then and there. Granted, those openings were so minute and short that he was pretty sure nobody else would have ever seen them. She was definitely a nimble and agile fighter, though, and had he not trained for three-thousand years in Tartarus, he might have considered her a _slight _threat, but now… Truly, this was just pathetic.

He bent over and grabbed the back of her parka before roughly lifting her up and throwing her onto his shoulder. He was briefly surprised at how light she was but quickly shook it off and remembered that she was in the form of a twelve-year-old girl.

Then, without a second thought, he pulled a shadow towards them and shadow-travelled to Mt. Othrys.

_**Author's Note:**_ I was truly not pleased with this chapter as a whole. I especially disliked how I wrote the flashback and the very brief "fight" between Artemis and Perseus. Despite my feelings, I still wanted to include them in the story. In the end, though, I honestly felt like I just wanted this awful chapter to be over.

Also, I feel like a large number of people missed me post Chapter 2, I posted 2 and 3 at about the same time on the same day.


End file.
